Charlie Croker
Charlie Croker is the name of the main protagonist seen in the 2003 remake of the 1969 British caper film "The Italian Job". He was originally portrayed by Michael Caine, however in 2003 was portrayed by Mark Wahlberg. History According to Croker, he has been a thief since he was very young or as he puts it, "Since he had baby teeth". At some point however, he was taken under the wing of a much older thief by the name of John Bridger. Since then he and his group consisting of Lyle, Handsome Rob, Left Ear and Steve were all involved in various thefts. ''The Italian Job (2003) Meeting up with Bridger in Venice, Italy, Charlie and the others arrive in an attempt to steal a safe containing $35,000,000 dollars in Italian gold bullion stolen by Italian gangsters some time ago. Once in the garage of their base, Left Ear and Steve arrive on scene and measure out where they'll need to paint and charge explosives. Once they paint and arm the explosives, they detonate them and the safe falls into the water. The boat they arrive in exits with a decoy safe, causing the gangsters to go after them in a hot pursuit. Little do they know is that the real safe is several feet below the water, leading to Left Ear, John and Charlie to crack the safe, take the gold and leave before the police arrive. Succeeding in such a task, they all head to the Alps on the border where they celebrate. On the way back, Steve then hijacks the gold, shoots Bridger and leaves the others for dead. A year later, Charlie and his crew are alive and well, as well as ready to dish out some payback. They locate Steve, who changes his last name to Frazelli and who is living in the lap of luxury in Los Angeles. He also manages to get the help of John's daughter Stella to help them in their revenge against Steve. Charlie after watching Steve's movements, realizes that they can knock out Steve's cabling in order to get a good look at the safe with the gold. Stella goes undercover as a repair woman and helps the crew get what they need. The group later on reveals to Steve that they are not dead and that the game is on. Discovering that Steve is heading for Mexico City with the gold, Charlie meets up with his friend Skinny Pete in order to secure some surplus. This also leads to them getting another favor from Pete in the terms of making a deal with the Mashkov, a Ukrainian mobster who is looking for the killer of his cousin Yevhen. Charlie also plans like he did back in Italy a year prior. While in his blue Mini Cooper, Charlie and the others wait until they capture the armored truck containing the gold while the others remain decoys. Heading into the subway tunnels, Charlie and the others take down the guards, crack the safe of now $27,000,000 dollars in gold and flee the scene. This leads into an intense chase with 2 motorcycle guards and Steve who is a passenger in a private helicopter. Managing to get away from both, Charlie and the others meet up at Union Station where he meets with Mashkov and gives him a share of the gold, along with Steve. Headed for New Orleans, Charlie and the others toast in honor of their late friend John Bridger. They eventually split up and Charlie takes his mentor's advice and finds someone whom he will hold onto forever, Stella. Abilities Being a thief, Charlie is known to have abilities that make him unique and successful at what he does. *'Intelligence:' Charlie's intelligence has been shown to be extraordinarily complex. His knowledge makes him one of the best thieves in the business. Since he was just a kid possibly about 4 or 5, Charlie was shown to have pick pocketed from bullies and others bigger than him. Since then, his intelligence grew and his plans got more sophisticated. **'Strategist:' Strategy is a major skill that Charlie has mastered. During his job in Italy, he planned their heist so perfectly that his crew never needed to carry a gun. As John put it "''He planned it down to a T" and that nobody else could have pulled such a feat off. Later on, Charlie's strategy came into play when he stole back the remaining gold taken by Steve a year prior. When behind the wheel of his Mini Cooper, Charlie's strategy never ceased to amaze and that was seen when he avoided injury from the tail rotor of Steve's helicopter, which damaged his car but not him. *'Expert Driver:' Shown later on, Charlie was shown to be an expert driver when it comes to high speeds. He is just as good as Stella and Handsome Rob. Category:Male Category:Thieves Category:Chaotic Good Category:Genius Category:Strategists Category:Live Action Heroes Category:Movie Heroes Category:Betrayed Category:Heroic Criminals Category:In Love